Chapter 3

At 2:00 PM, at the Star Bay Plaza Bidding Center.

Clad in four-inch stilettos, I walked into the grand lobby.

From a distance, I saw Ethan and Chloe standing in the corner.

Chloe was holding a hastily printed paper document, looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"Ethan, the details on these prints are incomplete. If the client asks, I won't know how to answer."

Ethan tugged at his tie in frustration. "Just wing it! We just need to sell them the concept first."

Wing it?

The Star Bay Plaza was a flagship state project, and the main investor was the legendary Sterling Group.

The CEO of Sterling Group, Christian Sterling, was notoriously cold-blooded and ruthless. He didn't tolerate even a speck of incompetence.

Trying to BS Christian Sterling? They were begging for professional execution.

I walked straight to the VIP reception desk of Sterling Group.

"Hi, I'm here to see Christian Sterling," I told the receptionist.

The receptionist blinked in surprise. "Do you have an appointment, ma'am?"

"Tell him S is here. And I brought the complete, uncensored blueprints for Star Bay."

In less than three minutes, the receptionist politely ushered me into the private VIP lounge.

Sitting on the leather sofa was a man.

He was impeccably dressed in a bespoke suit, his features sharp and handsome, radiating a powerful, intimidating aura.

Christian Sterling.

"You're S?" He looked up, his gaze piercing.

"Yes." I handed him my iPad. "This is the complete 3D model and the structural data for Star Bay."

Christian took the iPad, his long fingers scrolling through the screens.

His indifferent expression slowly shifted to intense focus, and finally, a hint of genuine admiration flashed in his eyes.

"Flawless design," he said, setting the iPad down and looking at me. "But I heard S belongs to Ethan's firm."

"As of five hours ago, I officially quit," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "The full copyright of these designs belongs solely to me."

A cold, dark smirk played on Christian's lips.

"How do you want to play this, Ms. Brooks?"

"I want to sign a direct contract with Sterling Group under my own independent studio."

"If you can help me crush Ethan's firm at the pitch today, I'll personally grant you an extra three percent of the royalties," Christian said smoothly.

"Deal." I extended my hand.

Christian gripped my hand, his hold firm and warm.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Summer."

The bidding presentation began.

Ethan's company was third in line.

To my surprise, the presenter walking up to the stage was actually Chloe.

She was wearing an ill-fitting designer suit, trying her best to look confident in front of the massive projector screen.

"Good afternoon, board members. Our design concept is 'The Future Realm'..."

She opened the slideshow, and what appeared on the screen was a messy collage of my early, discarded drafts.

To save face, Ethan had actually used my trash.

Chloe was practically reading off a script, unable to explain the core structural engineering of the design.

The experts in the panel were already looking displeased.

Right then, Christian spoke up in a calm, icy tone.

"Ms. Miller, please explain the load-bearing capacity of the glass curtain wall in Zone C."

Chloe froze instantly.

She frantically flipped through her paper notes, sweat beads forming on her forehead.

"We... we will calculate that data in the next phase..."

"You dare bring a pitch to Sterling Group without even verifying the basic structural load?" Christian’s voice was cold enough to freeze water.

Ethan quickly stood up to smooth things over.

"Mr. Sterling, Chloe is just a junior designer. She's a bit nervous. The actual data is secured in our core server."

"Is it?" I stood up from the front row of the guest seats.

Every eye in the room instantly locked onto me.

When Ethan saw me, the color drained from his face completely.

"Summer? How did you get in here?!"

I ignored him, walked straight onto the stage, and snatched the laser pointer from Chloe’s hand.

"That's because the data in your core server was entirely drawn by me."

The room erupted into whispers.

I plugged my flash drive into the podium computer, pulling up the original CAD files.

"The metadata of this blueprint, including the creation timestamps of every single layer, predates the day Ethan’s firm even registered this project."

"And that's not all."